Dyeing machine



G. E. DRUMVEr AL DYEING MACHINE July 10, 11934.

xm. um. ww u N5 July 10, 1934.. G. E. DRUM Er AL DYEING MACHINE FiledJan. 28, 1932 5 shets-sheet a July 10,y 1934. G, DRUM Er AL 1,965,694

DYEING MACHINE Filed Jan. 28, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 o @26g-goffo 59 371/ 2.6;; 12.7

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I N V EN TORS Seo rg@ f/YM; @d

Patented July 4102'k 1934 UNITED STATES DYEING MACHINE George E. Drumand William Jaxheimer, Phila.-

delphia, Pa., assignors to Smith, Drum & Company, Philadelphia, Pa., acorporation of Penn-v Sylvania Application January 28,

7 Claims.

The present invention relates to fabric and yarn treating machines andmore particularly to machines for dyeing skeins of yarn, piece goods, orany other material.

In dyeing or otherwise treating yarn skeins it has been the generalpractice to build individual machineswith varying capacities for thework v and the user has therefore been obliged to purchase a smallcapacity machine o-r a large capacity machine and hence an ineicientsituation exists in that the owner of a, small machine is instantlyhandicapped when production calls for more than his small machine cantake care of, or on the other hand the owner of a large machine may berequired to operate it at say onethird capacity while still maintainingmaximum capacity operating costs. One of the objects cf the presentinvention is to overcome such disadvantages and provide a dyeing orskein treating machine which is flexible in use and makes possible awide range of capacity while maintaining efficient operation regardlessof varying capacity.

A further object of the invention is to provid a novel control couplingfor two or more dyeing units whereby selective operation of a unit orunits can be obtained at will.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a new and eicientmixing means of the dye or treating liquor for dyeing or other treatingmachines whereby complete circulation and agitation is obtained givinga, resultingunifc-rm product in a period of time not heretoforepossible.

Other objects of the invention will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 represents a plan of a number ofinterconnected dyeing machines embodying one form of the presentinvention, certain parts thereof being omitted formore clearlyillustrating the invention; Fig. 2 represents a rear elevation of thesame; Fig. `Si represents an enlarged detail of the novel couplingmeans, the same being partly broken away; Fig. 4 represents a. sectionon line 4-,4 of Fig. 1'; and Fig. 5 represents a section online 5-5 ofFig. 1.

Referring to the drawings Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate a series of connecteddyeing units each complete as a separate entity and consisting generallyof a tank 10, a solutionmixing and circulating system 11, and supportingdevices 12 for the material to be dyed or otherwise treated. In thepreferred form of the invention the devices 12 are for supporting skeinsof yarn in sus- 1932, sex-m1 No. 589,378

(c1. s-is) pended relation aboveA the tanks and are each of tubular formfor carrying the treating liquid and discharging it through perforations13 against the skeins. Also provision is made for lifting the skeinsfrom the supporting tubes when desired by rotatable lifting members 19which are specifically described and claimed in copending applications.The machines or units are sold separately as complete dyeing machinesand by wayof the example here described each has three skein supportarms. Thus by coupling two machines ,together a six arm machine is madepossible, and by coupling three machines together a nine arm machine isobtained. This arrangement gives a wide range and flexibility in use,reduces manufacturers costs, and makes it possible for the small user toobtain the latest .dye equipment at little expense. Thus the small usermay only purchase one' unit with three arms; another may purchase twosuch units and couple them together so that if need be four, five or sixskein supports can be brought into use; and still another may purchase athree arm unit and a iive arm unit to give a combined capacity of eightarms.

In orderto make possible selective intercommunication between two of theunit tanks 10 each is provided at opposite ends respectively withopenings 14 and 15 preferably of elongated shape having the long axisgenerally horizontal. Cover plates 16 are supplied with each unit forbolting or otherwise removably fastening such plates over the openings14 and l5 in leak-proof relation. when a tank 10 is to be used as asingle machine. When two or more units are to be connected together toprovide a machinev of larger dyeing capacity the machines are deliveredwith a coupling 17 in the form of a pipe section having end anges 18designed to be clamped against a seat ring 20 in place of the plate 16.The ring 20 is riveted or`otherwise made fast to the end of .the tankbounding the opening 14, and a packing ring 21 is interposed between thering 20 and the flange 18. Preferably bolts 22 serve to anchor eitherthe plate 16 or the coupling flange 18 to the tank 10 according to whichis to be used. It is to be understood that both ends. of the coupling 17are secured in a like manner so that the coupling can serve as a.conduit for liquid travelling from one tank 10 to the next tank. As ameans for shutting off communication from one tank to the other by wayof the coupling 17, a. flap valve 23 is carried by arms 24 which arepivoted oneI rod 25 mounted in hanger brackets 26 attached by bolts 27t0 the outer tace pivotally attached to a crank arm 34 which is` keyedor otherwise made fast to an actuating shaft 35. The shaft 35 isjournalled at its inner end in a bearing 36 attached to the inner wallof the coupling while the opposite end of the shaft 35 is journalled inahousing 37 exterior of the coupling 17 and protected from leakage by alstufng box structure 38. A worm 4gear 39 is geared or otherwise madefast to the shaft 35 and meshes with a wor`m 40 secured to a rotatablespindle 41 projecting to a convenient level where it terminates in ahand wheel 42 by means of which motion is transmitted to the worm 40 andits associated parts to open and close the flap valve 23. It will benoted that the flap valve 23 plus its associated operating arms 24 andpivotal mountings 26 therefor have a transverse dimension such as toallow the assembled structure to enter the opening 14 in the tank whilethe flange 18 of the coupling abuts the ring 20 and holds the parts inleak-proof operative position. Turning-of the hand wheel 42 willtransmit motion to the valve 23 so that it can be opened when it isdesired to establish communication between two adjacent tanksand can beclosed when such communication is to be cut off.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that this coupling constructionand liquid circulation control makes a very flexible arrangementpossible in that the user of the machine can treat a large quantity ofmaterial at full capacity or a small quantity of material withrestricted capacity of the machine. Thus if the material to be dyed isonly sufficient to fill the material supporting devices 12 in one tank,the user can close the valves 23, shut down all but one of the pumps 26and so operate one tank as a unit while leaving the other tank or tanksidle and. inoperative. Again if more material is to be treated than canbe taken care of by one unit, one valve 23 can be opened and two tanksthrown together in series to act as one machine, or both valves 23 canbe opened and three tanks thrown together to act as one machine. Furtherwith the tanks shut off from each other three classes of dyeing can becarried on simultaneously with each unit operating separately.

For thepurpose of mixing thev treating solution in an ecient manner toproduce auniform character to the nal treating solution each tank 10 isprovided with an inlet 43 and an outlet 44 both preferably in the bottomof the tank and located at opposite sides of the tank in prder that thebody of liquid can circulate entirely around and across the tank toleaveby the outlet 44. A strainer or screen 45 of suitable mesh is locatedover each of the outlets 44 to. prevent sediment or other substancesfrom entering the respective pumps 46 and obstructing circulationthrough the pipes 47. 48 and 50. Thus it will be seen that each tank 10has its own pump and circulating system for causing the treating liquidto be drawn from the tank, returned thereto, and eiciently and uniformlymixed for use. A drain valve 51 is placed in each of the pipes 48 andcan be opened when- 1,965,694 of one of the anges 18. The flap valve 23is of' ever necessary to drain the contents fromthe 4respective tanks aswill be understood.

In the type of dyeing apparatus to which the present invention isapplied the treating liquid is sprayed upon the material (such as skeinsof yarn) and that this may be accomplished in an effective manner thedischarge end of each of the pumps 46 communicates with a separatethree-way valve 52 which functions in one position to permit independentmixing and circulation of the treating liquid in each of the tanks, andin its other position cuts off such mixing and circulation anddivertsthe stream of liquid from the several pumps 46 upwardly by pipes 53leading respectively to the distributing heads of the materialsupporting devices 12. The valves 52 are arranged for separate controlby means of support arms 53, connecting links 55, and operating handles56, the respective parts being pivotally interconnected and suitablyjournalled on the frame of the machine so that the handle 56 of eachmachine is in a convenient position for operating its valve 52 whenoccasion arises.

When two or more units are interconnected for use as a single largemachine it has been found 100 that the initial mixing of the treatingliquor to produce uniformity is difficult to accomplish by theindependent circulation of the liquor in the separate circulatingsystems and in order to overcome this disadvantage a means has beendevised for causing a series circulation of the liquor through all ofthe tanks 10 while at the same time maintaining the primary circulationin certain of tanks 10. One construction for bringing about thisfunction consists vin locating a three-way 110 valve 57 as a junctionbetween the pipes 48 and of the first tank 10 so that one outlet is byway of pipe 50 and the other outlet by aconduit 58 connecting to a.three-way valve 60. An outlet pipe 61 leads from the valve 60 to thecoupling 115 17 between the second and third tanks, and the other outletpipe 62 leads to a closure fitting 63 projecting through and secured inleak-proof .fashion over the opening 14, but terminating in a dischargenozzle 64 inside of the third tank 10 120 and directed toward the bottomthereof. When the valve 57 is turned to lcut 01T the pipe 50 from thepipe 48 the ldischarge from the first pump 46 follows the pipe 58 to thevalve 60 and then either enters the second or intermediate tank 10 byway 125 of the pipe'61, or enters the third tank by way of the pipe 62according to the set position of the valve 60 and whether or not two orthree tanks are to be.included in the system. If the valve 60 is inposition to cut on the line 61 it will estab- 130 lish communicationbetween the pipes 58 and 62 and there will be a circulation of liquorfrom the pump 46 of the rst tank by way of the line 58 and 62, dischargenozzle 64, through the three tanks successively and return to the firsttank 10. Incidentalto this series circulation of liquor, there is alsomaintained a separate agitation of the liquor in two of the tanks 10 bythe operation of the two pumps 46 i'or these tanks.

In describing the operation of the machine it will be assumed that threeof the separate units A, B and C areconnected together inintercommunicating relation so that the assembly represents a singlemachine of maximum capacity. To make the several units so operative thetwo hand wheels 42 are turned tobring the two ap valves to open positionso thata series flow of liquor can take place through the connectedunits. Also the valve 57 is set to cut off the pipe 50 from thedischarge pipe 4s andatoestabusn commum- 15G cation of the latter withthe pipe 58. The valve 60 is set to establish communication between thepipes 58 and the pipe 62 and to cut off the pipe 6l from the pipe 58.The dye liquor is now'placed in the several tanks and mixed by startingthe three circulating pumps 46 so that the solution is withdrawn fromthe tanks and in the case of the tanks B and C is recirculated by Way ofthe pipes 50, but in the case of the tank A the solution is withdrawntherefrom and returned to the tank C to travel through tank B back totank A. Thus there is a direct flow of solution through tanks A, B and Cin series as one complete cycle while auxiliary thereto there are twocross circulations independently caused by two separate circulatingmeans acting in tanks B and C. As a result there are no dead spots inwhich the dye can collect to prevent a uniform mixing and eventuallyproduce streaks in the material. In some instances tank A may have aninitial circulation through pipe 50 before the latter is cut off and thecirculation transferred to the three tank cycle. Upon the completion ofthe mixing,

which Vtakes a very short time compared to the prior mixing methods, thethree valves 5 2 are turned so that the discharge from each of the pumps46 is shifted into the respective pipes 53 and is led to the jetdelivering supports l2 upon which the material is suspended.

Under some conditions it has been found advisable to entirely close thevalve 57 of the tank A, due to the fact that the discharge into tanks Cand B is not recirculate'd fast enough to maintain a substantiallyconstant level in all of the tanks. In other words there is danger thatthe mixing liquor in tank A will be nearly drawn off while the liquor intank C will rise to an undue level.

For this reason the valve 57 is, under such conditions, opensufliciently as to by-pass and return some of the liquor to the tank Aand maintain an auxiliary circulation in that tank as well as in tanks Band C, and this partial opening of the valve 57 can be adjusted untilthe circulation is so uniformly distributed as to maintain a commonlevel in all of the tanks. In connection with the nozzle 64 it should benoted that this directs the liquor downwardly and in such a manner as todistribute it over the bottom 4 and toward the corners so that there areno dead spots or segregated eddies which interfere with uniform mixing.

While only a single form is shown in which this invention may beembodied. it is to be understood that the invention is not limited toany specic construction, but might be applied to various forms withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appendedclaims.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

l. A material treating machine comprisingtwo intercommunicating tankscontaining treating liquid. a valve for cutting oi communication betweensaid tanks, and separate means for respectively causing circulation ofliquid in said tanks.

2. A material treating machine comprising two intercommunicating tanks,a piping system including a pump for causing circulation of liquid inone of said tanks, a second piping system in-A cluding a pump forcausing a circulation of liquid in the other tank, a pipe connected withthe ldischarge of one of said pumps and forming a communication with thetank of the opposite pump, a. valve in said pipe for selectivelycontrolling the discharge of said pump to one or the other of saidtanks, and a valve for controlling communication between said tanks.

3. A material treating machine comprising the combination of two tankscontaining treating liquid, material supports respectively above theliquid` i1. said tanks, liquid spraying devices associated with saidsupports, a pump having a discharge communicating with both of saidtanks and with one of said material supports, a valve for selectivelycontrolling said discharge for causing a circulation through all of saidtanks, or through one of said tanks, or through said support, a pumparranged to cause a circulation of liquid through one of said tanks andthrough the material support of tlat tank, and a valve for selectivelycontrolling the discharge from said last pump.

4. A material treating machine comprising a plurality of tanks connectedin series for intercommunication, means to cause a circulation oftreating liquid from one tank to the next throughout the series,separate means for causing a cross circulation of said liquid in eachtank, material supports respectively above the liquid in said tanks, andmeans for by-passing the liquid from one of said circulating meansthrough said supports.

5. A material treating machine comprising a plurality of tanks connectedin series for intercommunication, means to cause a circulation oftreating liquid from one tank to the next throughout the series,separate means for sirnultaneously causing a cross circulation of saidliquid in each tank, material supports respectively above the liquid insaid tanks, and means for by-passing the liquidfrom one of saidcirculating means through said supports.

' 6. A material treating machine comprising a plurality of tanksconnected in series for intercommunication, a pump having an inletconnected with one end tank and an outlet connected with the oppositeend tank for causing a circulation of liquid through all of said tanks,a supplemental discharge from said pump leading into the end tank inwhich said inlet is located, control means for selectively regulatingsaid two outlets, means for respectively causing a cross circulation ofsaid liquid in each of the other tanks, material supports respectivelyabove the liquid in said tanks, and means for by-passing the liquid fromone of said circulating means through said supports.

'7. A material treating machine comprising a plurality of tanksconnected in series for intercommunication, means to cause a circulationof treating liquor from one tank to the next, supports respectivelyarranged above the liquid in said tanksv to suspend material, and meansfor causing a circulation of liquid from each tank to the suspendedmaterial. 140

GEORGE'E. DRUM. WILLIAM H. J.

